Size Doesn't Matter
by iheartgod175
Summary: A girls' day out results in Denise feeling as though her lack of "assets" doesn't make her attractive enough. Her boyfriend isn't hearing that, however. A small drabble I wrote on Tumblr. Droop-a-Long/Denise, with mentioned Ricochet/Melissa.


**A/N:** Before I start, I just want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving me this idea, and for showing me how to write it. You deserve to be praised! Amen.

Hey, guys, it's me again! And this time, with one of the more interesting stories I've ever come up with...well, actually, I've kind of had it in mind for a while, but I never got around to writing it until now. This is partly short story, partly author mouthpiece about an issue that's always bothered me in both anime and regular cartoons.

I hope you enjoy this story!

* * *

 **Title** : Size Doesn't Matter

 **Category** : Hanna-Barbera

 **Genre/Tags** : Romance/Hurt/Comfort/Humor

 **Rating: T** (for innuendos)

 **Universe** : Modern-Day

 **Summary** : A girls' day out results in Denise feeling as though her lack of "assets" doesn't make her attractive enough. Her boyfriend isn't hearing that, however. Droop-a-Long/Denise, with mentioned Ricochet/Melissa in the background.

 **Other Characters Mentioned** : Ricochet, Clarissa, Felicia, Trixie, and Melissa

 **Inspired by** : 100 Ways to Say "I Love You" #50: "I think you're beautiful."

 **WARNING** : Contains mentions of assets. _Female_ assets. You've been warned.

* * *

 **Size Doesn't Matter**

Droop-a-Long turned over the vegetable cakes in the frying pan, and he turned to check on his girlfriend. What he saw made him halted in turning back to the stove. Denise was sitting in her usual spot, her ears drooping forwards and chewing on a fried vegetable cake slowly. He'd wondered why it'd been so quiet in the kitchen, and he couldn't help the concern in his voice as he asked, "You alright, Denise?"

Denise looked up at him, and a small smile spread across her face–a tired one meant to reassure him, he noted. "Yeah, I'm fine," she answered quickly.

"You're hardly eatin' your food," he pointed out.

"I'm almost finished with my plate, Droop-a-Long," she said, and to make her point, she tossed the remaining bite in her mouth and chewed it. "See?" She paused to swallow the bite in question and plastered on another fake smile. "I'm completely fine."

Droop-a-Long would've commented on that, but the popping of oil in the pan forced him to turn his attention towards his cakes. "Well, iffin' that's the case, you want some more? I've got a fresh batch comin' up."

"Ah, not right now, Droop-a-Long," she answered. "I'm not that hungry."

Droop-a-Long frowned at that. Now he knew something was off. Denise would never eat only one helping of his fried vegetable cakes. Though she didn't haven't a voracious appetite, she loved them almost as much as Ricochet did, and because of that he always made more than usual for her.

Turning off the stove, he set the remaining cakes aside in the pan to drain, and then walked over to his girlfriend, sitting beside her. "What's wrong, Denise?"

Denise sighed. "It's nothing, Droop-a-Long," she replied. "I'm fine."

The drooping ears and her voice made it apparent. "Sweetie, if ya had a bad day, you know you can tell me about it."

"Well…it's not really a bad day or anything…"

"Then what is it?"

"If I tell you, it'd be too embarrassing," Denise said, burying her head in her hands.

"Well, I'll wait 'til you're ready to talk about it, okay?" he said. "The last thing I want to do is stress ya. How's about we go an' watch _Puzzle, Puzzle, Toil an' Trouble's_ newest episode? That oughta take your mind off things "

She raised her head to look at him, that same small smile on her face. "Thanks, Droopy."

* * *

Soon, Denise and Droop-a-Long were seated in front of the television, the plate of fried veggie cakes on the table. The announcer called out, _"And now, lets bring out the stars of America's favorite game: Marina Langsley and Daniel Reeves!"_

"Marina Langsley?" Denise's eyes widened. "Oh, that's right! They said they were supposed to bring on a new co-host after the original hostess left," she said.

"I wonder what she looks like…" Upon seeing a small glare coming from Denise, he said, "O-Of course, no matter how pretty she is, she won't be as pretty as you are, Denise."

The two hosts walked out from stage right. The new girl, Marina, had dark skin, long, wavy black hair and very pretty brown eyes. She was wearing a royal blue strapless dress that had a V-line running down the front, exposing a bit of her large chest. The camera seemed to linger on that area longer than necessary and Droop-a-Long couldn't help but stare. The applause on the show seemed to get even louder, with a few very loud wolf whistles thrown in.

The television went off with a soft _click_. Droop-a-Long blinked in confusion. "What happened to the TV?"

"I turned it off, that's what happened!" she replied, folding her arms. She looked grumpy. "I am _not_ watching that."

"Aw, come on, Denise, don't tell me your mood's gettin' worse…" He sighed when he saw her unchanging expression. "I thought the TV would help, since ya don't want to talk to me about it."

Denise's expression softened. "I'm sorry…it's not you, it's…just connected with what happened earlier today."

"Care ta tell me about it?" he asked.

"Well…I know you won't gawk at me, so I can tell you."

"Gawk at ya? What do you mean?" he asked.

"Today I went dress shopping with the girls," Denise said. "And we all found some really cute dresses to wear for tomorrow's party. And things were going fine…until we all tried them on."

"Did anybody make fun of yours?" Droop-a-Long asked.

"No. It turns out that Clarissa and Melissa…well…they got a little bigger since I saw them."

"…ya do know that you don't grow taller when ya get older, right?"

"I-Of course I know that! But that's not what I mean," she said.

"Then what do you mean?" he asked, taking a vegetable cake and taking a bite out of it. "Melissa an' Clarissa can't get any taller now."

Oh boy. "Well, Droop-a-Long…I don't exactly have any… _assets_."

Droop-a-Long choked on the vegetable cake he'd been eating. His eyes lit up in surprise. "Assets?" he asked.

"Yes. Assets," she repeated, hoping he'd get the message.

Droop-a-Long's face went a light red. "I never thought I'd hear you use that language, Denise."

Denise stared at him. "Language?"

"Well…you said… _that_ ," he said, "an' not ta sound impolite, but you do have one…" He paused before blushing. "An' I think it's rather cute, too."

Denise slapped herself on the forehead. "No, Droop-a-Long. I said _assets_ , not…well, what you thought I said," she said."When I say assets, I mean…well…" She took a deep breath before saying it. "Boobs."

Droop-a-Long stared at her in surprise, his face turning much, _much_ redder. Suffice to say, this was not the kind of talk he was expecting. "U-Uh…Denise…"

"I know, I never use that word," Denise said. "But I didn't want to leave you confused."

"I-isn't this somethin' you should be talkin' to the gals about, instead of me?" he asked.

"I would, but I just feel awkward hanging around all of them, especially when it comes to going shopping. Clarissa's the biggest of us, followed by Trixie, then Melissa and finally Felicia. I'm the smallest."

"Because of your lack of…um… _assets_?" Droop-a-Long asked.

"Yes. And I know that I'm just being silly worrying about that, but I feel kind of alone in that crowd. I mean, Felicia is bigger than me, and she's shorter than all of us. To a lot of guys, the bigger ones are more attractive," Denise said. "Sure, some guys like small women, but they always get overshadowed by the bigger ones. You see it all the time on TV. And in real life."

"Yeah, that's true," Droop-a-Long said. "Mr. Ricochet tends to have a little… _interest_ in that area, too."

"That's not surprising. He dated a lot of girls when he was in high school and college."

"I already know that-"

" _Human_ girls."

Droop-a-Long's eyes widened. "… _Oh_." He coughed. "Well, uh…he didn't tell me anythin' about that."

"I don't imagine he would. He's kind of ashamed of his past as a ladies' man," Denise said. "Don't get me wrong, Ricochet's not a raunchy guy or anything; you can bet he wouldn't be with Melissa if he was. But…you do get the point of what I'm saying, right?"

He nodded. "Reckon that fact tends to annoy a lot of gals, huh?"

"It definitely does, Droop-a-Long," she replied. She sighed. "Also, while we were leaving the department store, some guys were checking out Clarissa as we left. One of them even whistled. You can guess as to why."

"Is that why ya turned off the TV? 'Cause it reminded ya of that?"

Denise nodded.

Silence filled the room for a few seconds. Then, Droop-a-Long asked, "Did you tell anybody else about how ya feel about this?"

"Felicia knows," she said. "She confided in me about the same thing, since she had the same issue. I told her that she didn't need to worry about that, and she's fine the way she is. She told me the same thing, but…I don't know. I just don't feel like I'm-"

"You don't feel like you're what?" he pressed.

"I…I don't feel like I'm…attractive enough," Denise muttered. Her ears lowered even more.

"Denise," Droop-a-Long said gently, turning to face her fully. "You're wrong about that."

"How can I be wrong about that?" she demanded. " _Look_ at me, Droop-a-Long! There's nothing much to offer up front…"

"I'm lookin' at you, an' I see nothin' wrong with your body at all, Denise," he said firmly.

When she turned towards him with a look of surprise, he continued with, "Denise, I'm not into lookin' at girls in that way. I've never had a real interest in that…uh, area." He blushed a little. "An' if ya ask me, I think a fella likin' a gal jus' because of that is the worst type. They don't value her for who she is. A gal's size doesn't matter to me at all. What's she's like on the inside does."

She stared at him. "Droop-a-Long…"

"Denise, I've always thought ya were attractive–you're smart, fun, spunky, and a really sweet person to be around. You've got the prettiest eyes I've ever seen, and when you smile, you light up a whole room," he said. "I don't care if you were taller than me an' were bigger. I'd love ya no matter what your size was. I don't want ya ever feelin' unhappy with yourself. I wouldn't want you to change a bit. You're beautiful, inside and out."

Denise smiled–and Droop-a-Long could tell that it was a real one, as it reached her eyes. "Oh…thank you, Droop-a-Long," she said, giving him a peck on the nose. "I really needed that after today."

Droop-a-Long beamed. "Heh, well…I-I was jus' speakin' my mind. I'm glad I got to make you feel better, though. I hate seein' you upset like that," he said. "Though I've gotta say, I was caught off guard when ya said that…"

"You caught me off-guard when you completely misheard 'assets'."

"I-It sounded like ya said it, though!" he protested, pouting slightly. He huffed. "I couldn't help sayin' what I said…"

"Is that so? I remember you said something about my _asset_ being cute."

Heat raced up Droop-a-Long's face. "W-Well...uh..."

A sly smile graced her features when she saw his reddening face. "So you _do_ think it's cute, huh? Well…" She leaned close to his ear. "Just so you know, I think yours is rather cute, too," she said.

Droop-a-Long's face could've stopped traffic, and Denise couldn't help but laugh.

 **The End**

* * *

 _ **Well, now that we've got this over with, I might as well explain why in the world I wrote a story about feminine assets. And before you ask, no, it's not for fanservice. It's actually for two reasons, which are explained down below.**_

 _ **The first reason was that I was did a mental physical comparison between all four of the "Western Belles" (my nickname for Clarissa, Felicia, Melissa and Denise as a group) when I was drawing a picture of Melissa, and I started thinking of the differences between all four, not just in personality, but physique. I'm not a fan of doing bust rankings for girls since it kind of reduces girls to nothing more than "whose chest is bigger", but in terms of that, it'd be Clarissa, Melissa, Felicia, Denise. Yeah, Denise is completely flat-chested, and like any girl who doesn't have any major "assets", she's not entirely proud of it and feels that she doesn't have a lot that makes her physically attractive, but Droop-a-Long isn't hearing any of that.**_

 _ **Another reason was reading a post bhsdesk (known on FF. Net as BHS) wrote regarding one of my favorite characters, Mami Tomoe from Madoka Magica, and his headcanon for her. It brought up something I noticed a lot in every type of media: whenever you have well-endowed females, there's hardly if ever any mention of the problems with it–it's always meant for sex appeal, since "bigger is better" according to the marketers. While I know for sure that there are some characters that avoid that stereotype, it's still one of the main reasons why you have characters like that all over the place. This objectification is something that's always bothered me, and so I wanted to do something about it. So, what better way to do that, than to write a story about it?**_

 _ **I had fun writing Droop-a-Long in here. He was quite taken off guard by what was actually bothering her, but once he realized why she felt that way, he wasn't hearing anything about Denise thinking she wasn't attractive.**_ _**You know know he's a decent guy when he said that he loved her no matter what her "size" was. It's my headcanon that Droop-a-Long values personality over appearance (although appearances do help).**_

 _ **I also alluded to Ricochet's past relationships in here, too. In both "Blazin' Trails" and a few modern-day stories, my headcanon is that he's attracted to human females in addition to his own species, which lent to his ladies' man status. And for some reason, I can see him having more of an "interest" in that area than Droop-a-Long, though he's a decent guy who tries his best to be chivalrous around girls. I may have to expand on this in a separate story in "Blazin' Trails".**_

 _ **I also had some fun writing some of the innuendos in here. All I can say is, poor Droop-a-Long doesn't know what he's gotten himself into XD**_

 _ **The next post will have the girls' side of the story (most of which I wrote before this, but didn't get to edit it fully).**_

 _ **So, please let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is great, but no flames, please!**_

 _ **God bless, iheartgod175**_


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